Mississippi Attorney General Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of attorney general opinions issued in Mississippi, with full citations and the original source on every page.
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Can an individual alderman in a Mississippi code charter city direct city employees or run a department's day-to-day operations?
An individual alderman generally has no authority to direct the daily activities of municipal employees or get involved in running a department, and doing so can violate the separation-of-powers doctr…
Can a Mississippi state senator run for justice court judge and keep his Senate seat, or does winning the judgeship cost him the legislative seat?
A Mississippi state senator may run for justice court judge while remaining in the Senate. But taking the oath of office as a judge automatically vacates the Senate seat under Article I, §§ 1 and 2 of…
Can a Mississippi sheriff also work a part-time job for a local school district?
Yes, as long as the school-district job stays in the executive branch (or doesn't exercise core legislative or judicial powers). The state constitution prohibits a person in one branch of government f…
Can the same person serve as a Mississippi city attorney and municipal court judge to save the town money?
Yes. The Mississippi separation of powers doctrine does not bar simultaneous service as city attorney and municipal court judge. A city attorney does not exercise core executive power. Duties as munic…
Can a Mississippi constable run for sheriff in a special election without resigning the constable seat first?
No, no resignation required to run. There is no statutory prohibition against a Mississippi constable running for sheriff while still holding the constable seat. If elected, separation of powers, inco…
Can someone serve as both a Mississippi school board member and a city alderman at the same time?
No. A school board member is in the executive branch, exercising core executive powers. A city alderman is in the legislative branch, exercising core legislative powers. The Mississippi Constitution's…
Can a Mississippi county zoning enforcement officer keep her county job if she's elected to city council?
Yes. The Hancock County solid waste/zoning enforcement officer's duties (citizen complaints, field investigations, warning notices, documentation) are administrative, not policy-making at the upper le…
Can a person serve as a Mississippi city fire chief and a county justice court judge at the same time?
No. The fire chief manages the entire fire department, serves as Civil Defense Director, and can hire and fire department staff. Those duties are executive core powers, so the same person cannot simul…
Do Mississippi corrections officers, parole officers, or health-department compliance inspectors exercise 'core powers' of the executive branch?
Whether a particular Mississippi corrections officer, parole officer, or Department of Health compliance inspector exercises 'core powers' of the executive branch (and is therefore barred from also se…
Can someone serve on a Mississippi community college board of trustees and also be a sheriff at the same time?
Yes. A sheriff and a community college trustee both serve in the executive branch of Mississippi government. The separation of powers doctrine bars dual service only across branches, not within the sa…
Can a Mississippi county supervisor also serve as executive director of the Pat Harrison Waterway District?
Maybe, but probably not. A county supervisor exercises 'core powers' within the judicial branch under Mississippi separation of powers doctrine. The Pat Harrison Waterway District is an executive-bran…
Can a Mississippi small-town police chief also work part-time for the city's water utility?
Yes, with limits. The Mississippi AG sees no separation-of-powers problem with a town's police chief also serving as an assistant water utility maintenance worker, since both positions are in the exec…
Can a Mississippi sheriff also draw separate pay for running the county's FEMA Safe Room?
Yes. The salary cap in Miss. Code Ann. § 25-3-25 applies only to a sheriff's pay for performing sheriff duties. A sheriff can hold separate employment, like running a FEMA Safe Room in the county emer…
In a Mississippi code-charter city, can the mayor issue an ordinance, and can the board of aldermen override one if he does?
The board of aldermen has exclusive authority under Section 21-3-15 to adopt ordinances (including resolutions and orders) in a Mississippi code-charter municipality. A mayor's attempt to issue an ord…
If a Mississippi statute lets the police mail notice for unpaid traffic fines but a Supreme Court rule requires personal service, which one wins?
The court rule controls. Mississippi Rule of Criminal Procedure 26.6(d) requires personal service of a summons before a court can issue an arrest warrant for unpaid fines. Section 63-1-53(1) authorize…
Can a Mississippi school board member also serve on a joint airport board, or does the separation of powers prohibit it?
Yes. The 2021 opinion concluded that simultaneous service on a Mississippi public school board and a joint airport board does not violate the separation of powers doctrine. Both boards exercise execut…
Can a Mississippi city alderman use a police radio to monitor police traffic without violating separation of powers?
The 2021 opinion concluded that mere possession of a city-owned police radio by a Cleveland alderman did not violate Mississippi's separation of powers doctrine. The alderman could monitor radio traff…
Can the same person serve on a public school board and a charter school board in Mississippi at the same time?
The 2020 opinion concluded that simultaneously serving on a public school board and a charter school board did not violate Mississippi's separation of powers doctrine, because both positions are in th…
Can a Mississippi mayor or alderman serve on a private board the city helped create as part of a public-private partnership?
The AG concluded that Port Gibson, under its municipal home-rule authority, could appoint members (including a sitting mayor or alderman) to a private board created by a public-private partnership agr…
Can a Mississippi town's Board of Aldermen order the mayor to make an employee show up at a board meeting, and what happens if the mayor refuses?
Mostly no. The AG concluded the Board of Aldermen cannot order the mayor to deliver a particular employee to a meeting (that crosses the legislative-executive line), but it can seek mandamus when the …
Can a Mississippi county Board of Supervisors second-guess a circuit judge's order on how much to pay an appointed indigent-defense lawyer?
The AG concluded that Section 99-15-17 vested discretion to set indigent-defense compensation in the appointing judge alone. The Adams County Board of Supervisors had no authority to increase, decreas…
Can the same person serve as a Mississippi county administrator and a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives at the same time?
Yes, under the Mississippi separation of powers doctrine. The AG concluded that a county administrator does not exercise 'core powers,' so simultaneous service as a state representative is not constit…
Can a Mississippi state legislator be appointed Executive Director of the Public Utilities Staff?
Yes, with separate ethics review. The AG concluded that the Executive Director of the Mississippi Public Utilities Staff is a fixed six-year term position under § 77-2-7(1). A sitting legislator may b…
Can a Mississippi county tax assessor/collector also serve as the interim county administrator at the same time?
Yes. Under the core-powers doctrine, the tax assessor/collector exercises core executive powers, but the county administrator does not, so holding both positions does not violate separation of powers.…
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Attorney general opinions in Mississippi are written by the Mississippi Attorney General's office in response to questions from state agencies, legislators, and prosecutors. They are not binding like court decisions, but courts and agencies treat them as persuasive guidance on how state law applies. Every opinion above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the full original text.